This invention relates to outdoor cooking grills, and more particularly to those provided with, or connected to, a source of cooking fuel or electricity.
Fuel-connected outdoor grills typically include a cooking chamber defined by relatively deep base and cover portions, one or more food positioning racks disposed between the base and the cover, a burner disposed below the positioning rack, and a source of cooking fuel. The fuel for these grills is typically natural gas from a metered house supply or propane gas or the like from a portable refillable storage tank.
While a grill is technically portable, the standard size is, as a practical matter, too large to take on a picnic or camping trip without a truck or large recreational vehicle in which to transport it. As a result, most campers and picnickers must provide charcoal or wood with which to build cooking fires in rustic campground grills if they want to cook food directly over an open flame. The usual drawbacks of charcoal or wood fires, e.g., fuel replenishment and long delay before cooking, are frequently augmented by the inadequacies of public campsite grills. While some campers may find such minimal amenities enjoyable, others do not. Thus, it occurred to the present inventor that the presence of fuel-connected or electric outdoor cooking grills at campgrounds would be considered desirable by a substantial number of campers. However, due to the public nature of such facilities and the frequent unavailability or absence of attendants or authorities at these sites, there was a need to make the proposed grill vandal and theft resistant, simple, reliable and safe to operate. In addition, there was a perceived need to pass the costs of the grill and its use directly to the end user, rather than to all campers and/or the taxpaying public.
Another drawback of gas grills has been the relative inability to know the exact fuel level in the tank at any given time. Without knowing the fuel level a user could start preparing a meal on the grill and not be able to finish cooking if the tank runs out of fuel.